Vehicle-top.



No. 760,962. PATBNTED MAY 24, 1904.

G. B'. COOPER.

VEHICLE TOP.`

APPLIUATION FILED 00124, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

`of the same.

Patented May 24, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE B. COOPER,\ OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

VEHICLE-TOP.

SPECIF1CATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 760,962, dated May 24, 1904.

' Appumion ne@ october 24,1903. serial 110,178,315. No modem To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. COOPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny city, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Tops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in vehicle-tops, and more particularly to a protecting-casing for rolling curtains for the tops or canopies of buggies, carriages, and other vehicles.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of this character whichy will be simple in construction, durable in use, attractive in appearance, and well adapted for the purpose intended.

With this and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspecti'veview of avehicle top or canopy, showing the application of my invention thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail transverse section through one of the curtain casings or protectors and a portion of the vehicle-top, showing the manner of attaching the former to the latter. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the rear or inner side of one of the casings or protectors removed from the vehicle-top. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View Fig. -5 is a longitudinal Sectional View. Figs. 6 and .7 are transverse sectional views showing the curtain in its rolled and unrolled positions. Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the fasteners for the door of the protector.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 denotes the covering of a buggy-top secured upon bows 2, which have their ends united by side strips 3 and which are supported by suitable posts or standards 4, carried by the seat 5.

6 denotes the usual rear corner or side pieces of the canopy, which extend from the top covering 1 to the seat 5. Secured to each of the side strips 3 and 'to a similar rear strip are casings or protectors 7 made, preferably,

of sheet metal in the form shown in the drawings vand adapted to contain the rolling side .and back or rear curtains 8.

Each of the protectors 7, which are identical in construction, comprisesr a tubular body portion 9,V having a fiat back or inner side 10, a curved front or outer side 11, a closed downwardly-inclined top 12, and closed ends 13. The protector is preferably attached by forming the top of the same with a rearwardlyprojecting longitudinal iiange 14, which engages the strip 3 and is secured to the same by screws, bolts, or other fastening means 15. The bottom of the protector is open and adapted to be closed by a door or closure 16, hinged along its outer edge at 17 to the lower edge of the curved front portion 11. The inner and free edge of the door is cut away, as at 18, to form projecting ears 19 at each end, which ears when the door is in its closed position enter notched or cut-away portions 20 in the back l0 of the protector. In order to hold the door closed, the ears 19 are provided with rotating buttons or fasteners 21, having hooked ends 22, which are adapted to project into and engage retaining loops or clasps 23, secured to the back 10 of the protector.

Journaled in the end plates 13 is a roller 24, upon which the curtain 8 is secured and rolled. Said roller may be of any Well-known or preferred 4construction and is preferably springactuated, similar to the ordinary window-shade roller, so as to permit the curtain to be adjusted at any desired height. If desired, any suitable means may be provided for fastening the curtain in its lowered or partially-lowered positions. As shown in the drawings, buttonholes or eyelets 25 are provided adjacent to the edges of the curtain and engage buttons 26 upon the side or corner pieces 6 and the seat 5.

The operation of the invention is as follows: When it is desired to lower the curtain, the hooked ends of the fasteners 21 are turned to free them from the loops 23, and the door 16 is then swung to its open position, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 6. The free end of the curtain is then grasped, pulled down the desired distance, and fastened, as previously eX- plained. The door is then swung up to its closed position and fastened by the devices 21, the cut-away portion 18 of the door engaging the curtain and taking up any slack or looseness and holding it against the back 10 within the protector, as shown in Fig. 7 When itis desired to elevate the curtain,the door is dropped to its open position, the curtain unfastened and rolled up, and the door again closed and secured by the fasteners 21.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple, durable, and attractive device which is entirely closed to effectually protect the Cur-V tain and which will permit of an easy and quick adjustment of the same.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation. v c

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a device of the character described, the combination of an open-bottom casing having an attaching-flange, a spring-roller mounted in said casing a curtain rolled upon said roller, a hinged door for the open bottom of said casing, a fastening device carried by said door,

and a retaining device upon said casing adapted` to be engaged by said fastening device, substantially as described. a

'In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

`GEORGE B. COOPER. Witnesses:

J. S. LoHR, A. J. SoHRoTH. 

